So Why Snowbirds?

So why Snowbirds?

Growing up in North Central Ohio only a few miles from the amazing Lake Erie; Spring, Summers and Fall provided us with a bountiful amount of natural beauty and flavors. Locally grown vegetables, artisan cheeses, maple syrup, fruits (including wine grapes) and delicious fish caught in our very own Great Lake.

Our family home was surrounded by miles and miles of farmland and my Grandfather was a crop farmer. My appreciation of his work along with countless others in our rural farming community was instilled in me at a very young age. They adored and appreciated this land, and had for generations. You see, this dirt is some of the richest mineral driven soil in the country, something you may take for granted until you move away. Late Autumn appeared year after year, crops picked, gardens tilled and an all to familiar sign of what was in our forecast.

As beautiful as three of the seasons were Winters were quite dreary. The years we had significant amounts of snowfall, provided a landscape of a fairy tale Winter Wonderland, but most winters were just grey and cold. My Father worked in the highway construction business, so cold temperatures and icy conditions usually meant multiple weeks of downtime from work. My parents however, were savers for many things including vacations. As far back as I can remember the Oldsmobile station wagon was usually loaded up by the first of February and we were headed south to Florida and sunnier warm skies.

As I grew older and these yearly sabbaticals continued, fair weather friendships were created and I realized that it was quite commonplace for other families in the northern section of the United States to also migrate to the south during the winter months.

I soon realized it was not just the geese and black birds heading south in the winter, we humans became “Snowbirds” also.
I cannot begin to count how often I heard that term, snowbirds, used in conversation while vacationing in Florida. Most definitely it always came up when dining out, our waiter would approach the table and inquire “Are you locals or Snowbirds”?

When I decided to move forward with this crazy notion of become a vintner, I absolutely wanted to somehow acknowledge the impact my parents have had on my entire life, but especially my professional career. There constant encouragement and support have given me opportunities that many only dream of. While often reflecting back on childhood memories “Snowbirds” was born.
Moving forward, we are in the beginning stages of planting 300 Gruner Veltliner vines on that rich soil in North Central Ohio. And it is our dream that blessings from Mother Nature combined with the work ethic I learned working in those fields as a youngster with my Grandfather, that we will be blessed with countless years of delicious grapes and inspired Gruner Veltliner.